Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Kafka på stranden by Haruki Murakami

25 reviews

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What a book! I had this copy of Kafka on the Shore for almost two years before I tackled it this month and once I started, I couldn't put it down. This is such a creative and intriguing exploration of memory and destiny, the connections that we might and how we come to be the people that we are. How we craft ourselves and are made new every day, while still being informed by all that comes before us. The way that time is used it so trippy and interesting. Time moves past us and through us. We can't get time back and we can waste our whole lives chasing it. And even with these really big ideas, at its core this is a story about a young boy trying to understand himself. The simplicity of that is what keeps the story so tight and I can see why people continue to come back to it. Some parts are tricky...definitely check content warnings and I think that some parts could have been scaled back for sure which stops me from going like up to a 5 star rating for this book. But sometimes the stars are a general guide and I would still recommend this book for sure. Hoshino is my favorite character!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Police brutality, and Medical content

babymoomoocow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This is probably one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. I feel like I would have said “wtf” a lot less if I had a reading buddy. But a lot of this books made me go “wtf” in both a good and a very bad way.

I have mixed feelings on it honestly and I would only recommend this book so my friends can be confused and disturbed with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Torture, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Transphobia

kcinpdx's review against another edition

Animal cruelty, mutilation, murder.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

dniespal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

enoemo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The way Murakami writes women in this novel (although I heard this might be true for his other works as well) is... specific, so be prepared for that. The prose, however, is beautiful. I loved the style of writing apart from some really uncomfortable or clumsy moments regarding well, women, or their behaviour, or how they work according to the narrators. Nakata was my favourite character, I have so much love for him. This was, despite its flaws, unlike anything I have ever read and I would recommend it to anyone who has carefully considered all the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

adibasultana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I am conflicted on how to feel about this book. It was very poetic, symbolic, and I loved the actual storyline. However every female is written disgustingly and I can’t overlook the sexual content - every sexual encounter is deeply disturbing, unethical and rapey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood and Colonisation

neoeuph's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia

ufxefug's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, and Sexual harassment

cutepatzie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

It's a very interesting book and concept. Definitely something fresh. It's amazing how it's like reading to book but is one cohesive story. Amazing how the autor makes such an amazing story that makes you want to read more to find out every detail of what is happening. This story is for people to not read it sounds like maniac speach. But still such a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying

kia_y_k's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Incest and War